Mikel Arteta rarely ever deviates from his plans at Arsenal.
The Spaniard has shown adaptability over his six years as manager at the Emirates Stadium, but he sticks to his guns more often than not.
However, Arteta could be about to go back on his words regarding Gabriel Martinelli’s position now.
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Mikel Arteta appears to have changed his mind about Gabriel Martinelli’s Arsenal position
Martinelli joined Arsenal as a young striker from Ituano.
The Brazilian started his first few games as a Gunner up top under Unai Emery, and he was magnificent. He scored a brace in each of his first two starts for the North Londoners in that position.
Since Mikel Arteta became the Arsenal boss, however, Martinelli has mostly played on the left wing, and the Spaniard revealed in December last year that he only sees him in that role, not as a number nine.
“I think Gabi is so good when he’s got the line on his back, and he’s facing forward, and he has got the goal in the diagonal,” Arteta said about Martinelli’s position.
“I haven’t thought too much about that (playing him as a striker). He’s so comfortable on the left side. I think I see other evolutions more than this one.”
Now, the Arsenal manager seems to have changed his mind.
While speaking about Mikel Merino playing up front, Arteta namechecked Martinelli, along with Trossard, and claimed that their unavailability was the reason why the Spaniard had to be deployed there.
He said, as relayed on HaytersTV: “We try to have the freshness in the squad and the players in the best conditions to perform at the highest level. For example, Viktor [Gyokeres] injury, we’re missing another two nines, so Viktor played every minute since he came almost without a pre-season, and at some point, he got injured.
“Then, Mikel [Merino] had to do that role because Leo wasn’t fit, or Martinelli wasn’t fit.”
The fact that Arteta named Martinelli while speaking about strikers suggests that he is now open to deploying the Brazilian in that role, which is exciting.
Gabriel Martinelli scores another goal through the middle
Mikel Arteta could make Arsenal fans’ wishes come true
Martinelli’s position has caused a lot of debate among Arsenal fans for many years now.
A few agreed with Arteta when he said that he sees the Brazilian as a left-winger, but several others were of a completely different opinion.
Many Arsenal supporters have begged Arteta to deploy Martinelli as a striker or in a more central role over the last year or so.
The Arsenal manager has rarely listened to them, but his comments above suggest that he could finally make those wishes come true.
However, we don’t expect that to happen anytime soon.
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